Baby-Sitters Club Boxed Set #1

The Baby-Sitters Club #1-4

by Ann M. Martin

Four paperback books in a slipcase volumes 1-4

Genres: Childrens, Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade, Juvenile, Classics, Kids

Boxed Set

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.

Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.

Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.

Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.

After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...

Reviews

[Kayleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not going to bother listing the whole series, but I read quite a few of them (maybe 30 or 40 of the--at the time--100 or so books)in second and third grade. By fourth grade I could feel myself starting to outgrow them, but kept reading because I just couldn't bring myself to let go of a series that I had once loved. In fifth grade, I tried to reread some of my favorites from the series and found myself thinking "God, this is stupid. What exactly did I like about these books?"

While I thoroughly enjoyed the BSC books as a kid and remember them fondly (if for no other reason than that they made me look forward to, rather than dread, my teen years), I'm only giving them two stars because looking back, the most memorable feature of the books is how shallow they are. The girls all fit neatly into the most basic, stereotypical personality types possible--more like templates for any story about teen girls than like actual characters. Let's take a closer look, shall we? Role call!
--Kristy, the tomboy! She disdains makeup and girly clothes, plays every sport evar and is good at all of them! Oh, and she has three brothers--that's why she's a tomboy, see
--Claudia, the artist! She's very talented at every art form she's tried her hand at but gets terrible grades in school. Because, you know, artists are above such mundane concerns and have to spend all their time planning the perfect crazy outfits to showcase their creativity, instead of on things like schoolwork (eyeroll)
--Stacey, the socialite from New York City! She's very fashion-conscious (of course), but other than that her personality is pretty blank. Oh yeah, and she's diabetic but doesn't want anyone to know about it because it means she's not perfect or something
--Mary Anne, the supersweet shy girl with the overprotective father! Her mom died when she was very young, you see, and since men don't know how to raise little girls on their own, her father inevitably became a control freak who treats his daughter more like a well-groomed, carefully trained pet than a person
--Dawn, the California girl! She stands up for her beliefs no matter what (though Martin never actually mentions what those beliefs are, or why standing up for them would be necessary). Also, she's semi-vegetarian (meaning she'll eat poultry but not red meat) and thinks junk food is disgusting (unless the girls are having a sleepover that involves pizza and/or chocolate cake). Also-also, she hates cold and snow and rain, because apparently in never rains or snows in California. At all.
--Mallory, the bookworm who displays every "nerd" stereotype the author could think of! Glasses? Check. Braces? Check. Unmanageably frizzy, curly red hair? Check. Social awkwardness and large, quirky family? Check check.
--Jessi, the token African American character! She's a ballerina, likes to read, and...yeah, that's about it. I kind of felt like Martin included her out of a sense of obligation (she'd used Claudia to fill her Asian character quota; now she needed to represent another minority)

The funny thing is, despite Martin's own statement that she wanted to create a diverse group of friends who got along and worked well together in spite of their differences, the girls had far more similarities than differences: they were all good students, with the exception of Claudia (oh but she's still smart, I promise! She's just not a good student because she doesn't like school much; it's not like she's stupid or learning disabled--which, actually, might have made more sense than just inexplicably being terrible at math and spelling and history and reading and everything except art); they all have good relationships with their families (any token conflicts are quickly and painlessly resolved without any real changes or sacrifices having to be made); they're all reasonably intelligent but turn into giggling idiots the minute an attractive guy shows up; they all like the exact same music, TV shows, clothes (even Kristy-the-tomboy, when she does get dolled up, chooses remarkably similar outfits to those worn by the more fashion-conscious club members), and books; they are all Very Mature And Responsible. They also all narrate with the exact same voice--odd, considering how different their personalities are supposed to be.

Much as I enjoyed these books as a kid, I could never in good conscience recommend them to my own children (if I ever have any) because of how formulaic and superficial they are.

[tee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I preferred The Famous Five by Enid Blyton because I was a big, fat nerd. I do remember the books being repetitive and the girls, although having unique character traits, being rather unspectacular. Someone had diabetes, someone was a tomboy and there was the blonde californian girl who I either wanted to be, or had a crush on.

I think even back then, girly stuff made me a bit nauseous. I was never one of those girls that was like, "Oh my god, Howard is so sexy, look at him play football." (and I notice one of the books is titled, "Logan LIkes Maryanne!" I almost expect a !!!!!!!11111 after it.) Besides, I was the creep that had a crush on Marilyn Manson. And David Bowie when he was in The Labyrinth.

The cupcake-sweet sleepovers, and the goody-two-shoes behaviour always made me feel a bit violent. I know, I was a nerd. But a closeted psychopath, which was unleashed in my teen years. I remember the only book that I truly loved was where they got stuck on an island or something? I remember thinking SHIT IS GONNA GET FUCKED UP, THESE HOS GONNA BE AILING. Or something, maybe I wasn't a closeted gangsta, maybe I was. All I know is I wanted those bitches to suffer and have to eat sand. And live on sea water. And maybe make out with each other.

The Babysitters Club books made me realise I wasn't normal. Which is okay, it had to happen sometime. This, in combination with my parents not allowing me to shave my legs, use deodorant, date boys, have sleepovers, celebrate christmas or birthdays and so on - made me that girl you loved to hate at school. The one that skulked in the toilets, hid in the library, had weird pre-teen boobs, a home-cut fringe, gappy teeth. Oh god, Ann M Martin, look what you've done. I'm having to live out my childhood.

And those who follow my reviews are probably starting to put together a pretty good visual of my pre-teen years. Hooray for you. I bet your mum let you wear a bra when you sprouted nubbins.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter and I love these

[Kara Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best thing about this book is that there are sooo many books one could read if they liked this book. I would love to introduce this book to a middle school girl. I would know that she would love it and continue to read this series. This is a great book for those who are at a hogher reading lever than some transitional chapter books.

Background::::
--Kristy, the tomboy! She disdains makeup and girly clothes, plays every sport and is good at all of them! Oh, and she has three brothers--that's why she's a tomboy, see
--Claudia, the artist! She's very talented at every art form she's tried her hand at but gets terrible grades in school. Because, you know, artists are above such mundane concerns and have to spend all their time planning the perfect crazy outfits to showcase their creativity, instead of on things like schoolwork
--Stacey, the socialite from New York City! She's very fashion-conscious (of course), but other than that her personality is pretty blank. Oh yeah, and she's diabetic but doesn't want anyone to know about it because it means she's not perfect or something
--Mary Anne, the super-sweet shy girl with the overprotective father! Her mom died when she was very young, you see, and since men don't know how to raise little girls on their own, her father inevitably became a control freak who treats his daughter more like a well-groomed, carefully trained pet than a person
--Dawn, the California girl! She stands up for her beliefs no matter what (though Martin never actually mentions what those beliefs are, or why standing up for them would be necessary). Also, she's semi-vegetarian (meaning she'll eat poultry but not red meat) and thinks junk food is disgusting (unless the girls are having a sleepover that involves pizza and/or chocolate cake). Also-also, she hates cold and snow and rain, because apparently in never rains or snows in California. At all.
--Mallory, the bookworm who displays every "nerd" stereotype the author could think of! Glasses? Check. Braces? Check. Unmanageably frizzy, curly red hair? Check. Social awkwardness and large, quirky family? Check check.
--Jessi, the token African American character! She's a ballerina, likes to read, and...yeah, that's about it. I kind of felt like Martin included her out of a sense of obligation (she'd used Claudia to fill her Asian character quota; now she needed to represent another minority)

[E.F. Buckles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember that my mom read a bunch of the Baby-Sitters Club books to me when I was a very young child, though I don't remember how many we read. If I recall correctly, we both enjoyed the early installments, but as the series went on, we both lost interest. For my mom, it was because she felt like the girls in the books started trying to grow up way too fast and were getting all boy-crazy and stuff. For me, I think I was either just plain growing out of the book, or maybe it got to the point where the characters were just so much older than me that I just couldn't relate anymore. I don't quite recall.

Either way, while I have vague recollections of these stories, they were never my favorites, and there were many other children's series that I loved (and therefore remember) much better. I give the Baby-Sitters Club series Two stars.

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ann M. Martin's writing style:
Step One--Cut and paste first three chapters from previous novel, changing name of featured baby sitter as necessary.
Step Two--Copy plot from previous novel, changing name of featured baby sitter, and slightly tweaking the "conflict." If book 4 is about Kristy's struggle with braces, make book 5 be about Mallory's struggle with her curly hair.

The fun thing about Martin's writing is how she defies logic. In one story, Dawn buys a lottery ticket (though she's under 18)and uses her winnings to take the gals of the baby sitters club on a Bahamanian cruise BY THEMSELVES. Yet, the gals' weekend curfew remains at 10.00 PM...

Clearly she spends a LOT of time around teenage girls. She really understands what makes them tick.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I actually started reading around age 3 (thank you, my Granny's Dick and Jane books!), this series is what I remember most about loving to read during my childhood. My sister and I drank these books up like they were oxygen. I truly think we owned just about every single one from every one of the series. We even got the privilege of meeting Ann M. Martin at a book signing, but of course little starstruck me froze and could not speak a word to my biggest hero at that time. Once in awhile if I come across these at a yard sale, I will pick them up for a couple hour trip down memory lane, and I declare nearly nothing centers and relaxes me more!

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I actually started reading around age 3 (thank you, my Granny's Dick and Jane books!), this series is what I remember most about loving to read during my childhood. My sister and I drank these books up like they were oxygen. I truly think we owned just about every single one from every one of the series. We even got the privilege of meeting Ann M. Martin at a book signing, but of course little starstruck me froze and could not speak a word to my biggest hero at that time. Once in awhile if I come across these at a yard sale, I will pick them up for a couple hour trip down memory lane, and I declare nearly nothing centers and relaxes me more!

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was AMAZING! The Babysitters Club is my most favorite book series (other than KOTLC) and it kept my interest the ENTIRE time! I REALLY want to be a babysitter and love learning about all of the Babysitting adventures that Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacy, Dawn, and Mallory get themselves into. I would HIGHLY recommend this book to just about anyone who likes comedy, friendship, and a good adventure all in one. Love this!!❤️❤️❤️🌈🌈��😘😘😘

[Ibrahim Abdelhadi]

The Babysitters club, by Ann M. Martin is a good, and a funny book. It is about a club of girls how want to make a babysitter club to baby sit kids. When they were doing it, they were a lot of money and a lot of babysitting kids. But then they were not having a lot of calls to babysit kids. So they had to find out what was happening. If you want to know, try reading the book to figure it out. At the end they had find out what happened. I think kids should read this book because, it is funny.

[Cherrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never read this as a kid and was inspired by the Netflix short documentary “The Claudia Kishi Club” to pick up the series. Ann Martin was definitely ahead of her time when she wrote these books and I’m glad that it inspired a generation of Asian American women and women in general. Would add this to chapter books I hope my son picks up when he’s older.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have teenage daughters, grab this collection. The stories are great for teenage sons as well. They are also great for adults who like fun adventures. Find four books in this set. I read them all separately before I found this.

[marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh my god, did I love these.

I wouldn't say they did very much for my vocabulary or literary ambition, however.

[Rory Gilmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really good. Highly recommend reading.

[Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read all of these books and there was lots of friendship and loyalty in this book,I really enjoyed them.

[Jemimah]

i love it

[pria · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Babysitters Club just came out on audible!
For a GenX gal like myself these books were all the rage
back in the 80's so it was fun to re-read it as a audiobook :)

[Lexie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book series for young girls (and boys too).

[Lilly]

Good book so far, haven’t fully read it yet

[Joi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read these books as a kid. With the resurgence of the BSC via the new Netflix show, I thought why not go back and revisit.

The BIG question- did they hold up? Welp, not really. Unfortunately, the Netflix show did SUCH A GOOD JOB of modernizing and updating the now-outdated original books- that it left the books seeming cookie-cutter, and flat. Alas, let's remember that I'm no longer the target audience for these books, and I must forgive the fact that the first 20 pages will ALWAYS be explaining the characters, relationships, and the BSC in case new readers haven't read the previous books or don't remember.

Nostalgia wins, and I'm giving this 3 stars.

[Ariadna Arredondo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you grew up with the series and the movie and you find yourself a bit nostalgic and just want to have fun, let's go get us some Babysitter's Club.

Fun, easy, and quick. Just what I need sometimes in between books and life chaos. Find Ariana's Davis episode on The Always Believer Podcast where we talk about this series, Will Smith, her book (What would Frida Do) and tons more.

[sadsappysuckers · Rating 3 out of 5]

they kinda seemed better back in the day... the girls seem very shallow, very boring now. since this book is old, hard to really get with it. it ofc contains longevity, and you can pick it up now and understand the story, learn from them, relate to them, its still just a little bit weird. but ofc, bsc books are classics.

[Manar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book is amazing. It includes a lot of details.

[Heaven Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of these books were fantastic.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This box set represents all 131 books in this series ... I'm pretty sure I read them all :)

[Leana Wilson]

they really make you wan't to read them all over

[Tanita Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read most if not all the books. One
Of the best series for teens and young adults.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series for young adults to read.

[aem · Rating 3 out of 5]

How it all started!

[Celine Leaper · Rating 4 out of 5]

good